A Happy Bit

I have really been enjoying living in general lately. God has blessed me with a job that I'm enjoying, amazing friends that are an encouragement to me on a daily basis, and hope for a future that He controls. The best part is that He has given me a peace that passes understanding. There are some things in life right that I'm not sure about and some that are scary, but I have complete confidence that He is in control. It is a restful path that I walk with God.

To Know Christ....

My heart is so full tonight at the awesomeness of God. I have been impressed strongly just in the last couple of days by the incredible personal relationship I can have with my Heavenly Father.  I can truly call Him "Father" and know that He hears me as a father.  I can truly bring anything before Him as a son.  Because of Christ, I am a son of God.  It is not because I am anything or because I deserve to be His son, but because I have the incredible privilege of placing my full faith in Christ knowing that because of Him, I have power to become a son of God.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.  (John 1:12 KJV)

My heart cries out tonight to know Christ, not just know about Him, but to KNOW Him—to experience Him in my life. I want to lose myself.  I want to give up everything I am for the incredible honor of knowing Him.  I cry along with the Apostle Paul:

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.  I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.  For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.  I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.  I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!  (Philippians 3:8-11 NLT)

Oh, that I could know Him.  I have a deep longing inside to follow Paul's plea:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  (Romans 12:1-2 KJV)

I want to be transformed.  I want to "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…."  (the KJV of Philippians 3:8a)  I want to know Christ and give up who I am so that He can fill me and possess every iota of who I am.  I want to live as a citizen of Heaven and  think on the things of Heaven.  (Philippians 3:20 & Colossians 3:1-4)

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand.  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.  (Colossians 3:1-4 NLT)

I want to be free of myself—to surrender my right to myself and take up my right to be a son of God.  I want to tell others of the freedom there is in Christ.  Paul also said:

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.  Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ.  That is why I am here in chains.  Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.  Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.  (Colossians 4:2-6)

I'm so excited….  God is moving….  He's working in the lives people here and there, and I sense that power is about to be unleashed that I have never seen in my lifetime if I...if we will only listen…if we...will only hear the heartcry of our Father….

The Peace of Power

I got to visit the ocean again this morning after an early-morning jog with a friend.  It was calm today.  I love the moods of the ocean.  Sometimes the waves come crashing in and go far up the beach.  Sometimes the waves crest smoothly and scoop up the shoreline.  Today, the waves were small and the ocean almost had a glassy look.  I could see far out over the ocean to the distance horizon with a bank of clouds.  When I first got there, the sun had not yet risen and there were gorgeous bands of blue, purple, and pink.  As the sun rose over the cloud bank the colors became more vivid and began to change into oranges and yellows.  Then the sun began to peek boldly over the top of the clouds…the dawn of a new day—a day with potential for great good if I surrender myself into the hands of my Heavenly Father.

This morning was so peaceful and quiet (minus the annoying four-wheeler that destroyed the peace for awhile.  Ha!)  It was re-assuring, though, to think that everything is in the hands of a God who brings the new day into existence with such peace and tranquility—no strain or stress.  If we humans were even capable of putting on such a lovely production, can you imagine the massive stress, preparation, scurry, rush, frustration, and practice that we would have to put into one sunrise?  The light has to be just right; someone has to coordinate the waves; someone has to make sure the half-moon is in just the right place; someone has to make sure the colors change as they are supposed to; the sun has to come up at just the right rate; someone has to scatter the hundreds of shells on the shore…and who knows what else....  And that is only for my little section of the beach.  Yet all night long, God kept the world spinning and the planets in order; He kept everything running perfectly and the sun came up this morning with no great rush, no stress, no perspiration, no headache, no effort.

God is awesome.  I'm glad that it is He that I trust with my life.  I'm glad that I can let Him control all the details instead of trying to keep track of everything myself.  In a world that seems like it turning upside-down sometimes, it's so comforting and reassuring to know that God has everything under control without any stress or strain.  It's a wonderful feeling of peace...kind of like a glassy ocean with gentle waves splashing on the shoreline and beam of brilliant sunlight shining across the surface….